2009 AVCA NAIA National Coach of the Year

LEXINGTON, Ky. (December 11, 2009) - The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is proud to announce that Fresno Pacific University head women's volleyball coach Dennis Janzen has been selected as the 2009 AVCA NAIA National Coach of the Year,.

2009 was a season which saw the Sunbirds continue building their legacy in NAIA volleyball, as Fresno Pacific, under Janzen's guidance, laid claim to its third-consecutive NAIA Volleyball National Championship. The Sunbirds swept through pool play and their quarterfinal match against the University of Texas at Brownsville, notched a 3-2 win over Concordia University, Irvine in the semifinals and whitewashed Georgetown College (Ky.) in the title match, en route to Janzen earning NAIA All-Tournament Coach honors. Fresno Pacific rolled to a perfect 38-0 record on the year, with 27 of those victories coming in sweeping fashion.

In his 25 years with Fresno Pacific, Janzen has guided the Sunbirds to 25 consecutive winning seasons and has never had a losing season. His running tally of accomplishments includes 16 Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) championships, 13 NAIA District/Region titles, 12 national semifinal finishes, two national runner-up finishes and five NAIA national championships (1989, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009). During his time with the program, Janzen has racked up an impressive 835-166 overall record.

Janzen is the winningest volleyball coach in GSAC history, as well as the winningest coach in any sport in Golden State Athletic Conference history. He has been named GSAC Coach of the Year eight times and has been named NAIA National Coach of the Year three times (1989, 1994 and 2007). Janzen earned GSAC Athletic Director of the Year accolades in 2009, in addition to being inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2003. He previously was honored as the AVCA NAIA National Coach of the Year in 2007.

Janzen, who also serves as the university's athletics director, has not experienced success with only the Sunbirds. In 1992 he spent seven months in San Diego assisting in the development and training of the United States Men's Olympic Team. He has also served as an assistant coach with the men's programs at Penn State University and the University of Southern California, and has been both an assistant and head coach at the US Olympic Festival.

The AVCA will formally present Janzen his award at the 2009 jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, December 17. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 2009 AVCA Annual Convention.